A CMOS imaging sensor has been integrated with a computer mouse to allow the mouse to function as a scanner. The imaging sensor captures images as the mouse is moved over an object and the captured images are combined (e.g., stitched and/or merged together) to form an image of the object in real-time. Such combined functionality (mouse and scanner) reduces the need for a separate, and often large, desktop scanner. One such prior art mouse scanning product is LG's LSM-100, which includes an image sensor in a dual-purpose mouse. The product operates as a conventional computer mouse and the image sensor allows it to also function as a scanner. In scanner mode, as the user moves the mouse over an object, the image sensor is used to capture a plurality of images, each image being a portion of the object beneath the mouse. These images are then merged together in real-time to produce the image of the object.
However, such prior art mouse scanning systems generate one output image for each scan operation and do not allow the scan operation to be paused and resumed with or without repositioning of the mouse scanner. Thus, where a first portion of the object is captured in a first scan operation and a second portion of the object is captured in a second scan operation, two output images result. To form a single image of the object, these two resultant images must be combined in an external program and/or operation. This problem is exacerbated because prior art mouse scanning systems terminate the scan operation when the mouse is lifted from the object, thereby prematurely closing the resulting image file when the mouse is accidently lifted during operation. With prior art systems, the user must either restart the scan operation, or must generate a second resulting image for merging with the first resulting image in an external operation.
Further, during the scanning operation, the prior art mouse scanning systems show only the resultant image as it is being constructed and do not show the “current frame” captured by the mouse. Thus it can be difficult to follow the current location of the mouse over the object when watching the computer display.